Harris County, Texas is one of 254 counties in Texas. It is located within the Greater Houston metropolitan area. As of 2010 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 4.1 million, making it the most populous county in Texas and the third most populous county in the United States. Its county seat is Houston, the largest city in Texas. It was founded in 1836 and is named for John Richardson Harris, an early settler of the area.

Board of Commissioners

Corruption charges

Jerry Eversole was rumored to have accepted bribes from developer Mike Surface in 2008. In 2010 he was indicted on those charges for allegedly accepting $100,000 worth of bribes.[12]

Public Employees

Precinct 1 Constable Jack Abercia failed in his 2009 disclosure form to state his office and his source of occupational income. He is paid $130,512 a year, records show. Texas Watchdog called his office, and he was quick to return our call and took note of the inquiry. He said he would fix the missing information on the disclosure form.[13]

Voter fraud

In August 2010, a 3 alarm fire destroyed all the voting machines in Harris County, the cause of the fire is unknown.[16]

Shortly after, the Texas Democratic Party filed a lawsuit against the Harris County voter registrar in federal district court for what it says are violations of voter registration laws, political favoritism and violations of voter privacy.[17] The lawsuit follows registrar Leo Vasquez, who has accused two Democratic-leaning activist groups of voter fraud involving more than 5,000 applications.[18][19]

In response, Texans Together Education Fund, parent company of Houston Votes has also filed a suit agains the King Street Patriots, a local tea party group. The suit accuses them of intimidating voters, while King Street Patriots maintains that their volunteers are only poll watchers.[20]

Unemployment rate

The county has seen a large spike in unemployment due to the recession, losing 49,800 jobs in the first quarter of 2010.[21]

Payroll documents

Harris County answered a Freedom of Information Act request from Sunshine Review and copied a list of payroll related records for the county.[22]